Clinical therapeutics
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Clinical therapeutics · Jun 2013
Comparative StudyWhen pharmacodynamics trump costs: an antimicrobial stewardship program's approach to selecting optimal antimicrobial agents.
Treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is increasingly challenging because of escalating resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship programs provide guidance for clinicians regarding use of the most appropriate antimicrobial at the right dose, duration, and route in addition to being cost-effective. Optimizing antimicrobial therapy by using pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic principles such as extending time above the MIC is 1 stewardship strategy to reduce antimicrobial resistance. ⋯ Antimicrobial stewardship programs should consider pharmacodynamic modeling to select the optimal dosing strategies to guide therapy in an era of escalating antimicrobial resistance. Using the percent susceptibility alone can be misleading and ultimately the most expensive if the patient fails to respond.
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Clinical therapeutics · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialPsychometric performance of the incontinence quality-of-life questionnaire among patients with overactive bladder and urinary incontinence.
The Incontinence Quality-of-Life Instrument (I-QOL) is a condition-specific questionnaire that assesses the health-related QOL impact of urinary incontinence, but it has not been validated in patients with overactive bladder (OAB) who have been inadequately managed by anticholinergic therapy. ⋯ This study demonstrated that OAB with urinary incontinence affects health-related QOL and that the I-QOL reliably and validly measures these impacts.
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Clinical therapeutics · Jun 2013
A stewardship program's retrospective evaluation of vancomycin AUC24/MIC and time to microbiological clearance in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and osteomyelitis.
Current guidelines for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia recommend targeting a vancomycin AUC24/MIC ≥400. Data on the association between AUC24/MIC and microbiological clearance in patients with concomitant MRSA bacteremia and MRSA osteomyelitis are limited. ⋯ We observed a >2.5-fold increase in time to microbiological clearance in patients with concomitant MRSA bacteremia and MRSA osteomyelitis unable to achieve a vancomycin AUC24/MIC >293. A 5-day increase in hospital and infection-related length of stay was observed when this target was not achieved. Recurrence of bacteremia and hospital readmissions were higher in the cohort who did not achieve an AUC24/MIC >293. Only 9% of patients were able to achieve an AUC24/MIC >293 if the isolate MIC was >1 μg/mL. Trough concentration did not correlate with AUC24/MIC. In patients with concomitant MRSA bacteremia and MRSA osteomyelitis treated with vancomycin, stewardship programs should optimize pharmacodynamic parameters, specifically AUC24/MIC, or alternative therapies should be considered.
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Clinical therapeutics · Jun 2013
Innovating by developing new uses of already-approved drugs: trends in the marketing approval of supplemental indications.
Much of the literature on trends and factors affecting biopharmaceutical innovation has focused overwhelmingly on the development and approval of never-before approved drugs and biologics. Little attention has been paid to new uses for already-approved compounds, which can be an important form of innovation. ⋯ Development of and regulatory approval for new uses of already-approved drugs and biologics is an important source of innovation by biopharmaceutical firms. Despite rising development costs, the output of new-use approvals has remained stable in recent years, driven largely by the pursuit of new pediatric indications. FDA approval-phase times have generally declined substantially for all types of applications since the mid-1990s following legislation that provided a new source of income for the agency. However, while the resources needed to review supplemental applications are likely lower in general than for original-use approvals, the approval-phase times for important new uses are no lower than for important original-use applications.